Lawn-mower.



PATENTBD FEB. 12, 1907.

J. P. JASPER.

v LAWN MOWER.

APPLICATION FILED no. 6, mp5.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTOR WITNESSES: d: 3 7/ fTWML ATTORNEY PATBNTED. FEB. 1 1907.

J.P.JASPER.

LAWN MOWER.

APPLICATION FILED PEG. 6, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTYOR ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

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LAWN-MOWER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application filed December 6, 1905. Serial No. 290,640.

1'0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN P. JASPER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cave City, in the county of Barren and State of Kentucky,have invented a new and useful Lawn- Mower, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to mowing-machines, and more particularly tolawn-mowers; and the objects of my improvement are case of operation,cleanness of cutting; to provide a lawn-mower which shall cut grass thatis too high for the ordinary lawnmower; to prevent clogging and wrappingof grass about the working parts, to preserve the sharp edges of thesickle longer than heretofore; to provide an oscillatory as well asreciprocatcry motion of the sickle and a consequent draw out as well asshear cut.

-These objects I attain by means of the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view; Fig. 2, adetail view of a portion of the cutter-bar, showing the position of theantii'riction-roller; Fig. 3, a detail elevation of the end ofcutterbar, showing the antifriction-roller in position; Fig. 4, a sideview of one of the fingers, show ing the sickle in section; Fig. 5, aplan View of a finger; Fig. 6, a plan view of a finger with thebifurcated spring in place; Fig. 7, a perspective view of one of thefingers with the sickle in position; Fig. 8, a plan view of a fingerwith the wings removed; Fig. 9, a side view of one of the wings; Fig.10, an edge view of the bifurcated spring, and Fig. 11 is a sideelevation.

Similar reference-numerals refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews of the drawings.

The driving mechanism 1, the cutter-bar 2, and the driving-wheels 3constitute the body of the invention. The driving mechanism 1 maybe ofthe conventional lawn-mower type, with dished driving-wheels 3, havingperipheral internal gears. In the embodiment of my invention illustratedin the drawings the shaft 5 is rotated directly by the drivingwhcels 3by means of a pinion on each end. On shaft 5 is placed a gear-wheelwhich meshes with a pinion on an adjacent shaft 6, the gear and thepinion being inclosed in a case 15. This mechanism gives a rapid rotarymotion to shaft 6. Shaft 6 is provided on either end with a pitman orcrank-wheel The crank-wheels 7 are so disposed on shaft 6 that thecrank-pinsare at one hundred and eighty degrees relative to one another. Pitman-wheels 7 are operably connected, by means of pitmen 8,with a sickle 9, mounted in a finger-bar 2 in front of the ma chine. Aroller 4 is shown mounted just in the rear of finger-bar 2 and may beadjustable in order to cut the grass at different heights. T re sickle 9is provided at its ends with cam-shanks 16, which extends beyond thesickle-bar rearwardly at an angle and are provided at their extremitieswith eyes or sockets for receiving the forward ends of pitmen 8.Finger-bar 2 is provided at each end with an antifriction-roller 14,against which cam-shanks 16 are adapted to work. Finger-bar 2 isprovided with fingers 10. The fingers 10 have straight sides and havethe point portion elevated above the cutting. surface, and thiselevated-point portion is provided with a socket adapted to receive theends of wing 11. The forward ends of wing .11 are bent at a double rightangle and adapted to work in the slot of fingersIO, provided therefor.rearwardly by steps.

A spring 12 is placed over the right-angled forward ends of wings 11when they are in place and may be secured by a screw 13 or any othersuitable means to prevent them from being raised out of the slot in thefingers and also from sliding forward out of said slot, being providedwith a right-angular forward hook, as shown in Fig. 10. Spring 12 isbifurcated, so that half of it presses upon each of the wings 11 andkeeps them gently pressed downward. The object of the wings 11 is topress the cutting edges of the sections of sickle 9 gently,continuously, and closely down upon the surface of fingers 10 and alsoto continually wipe the upp er surface of the cutting edges of thesickle. It is obvious that thus a blade of grass that is to be cutbridges across a very narrow space between the finger and the wing andis supported on both sides of the cutting edge, causing it to be clippedoff cleanly and easily. In the usual form of fingers a sufficient spacemust be allowed between the upp or plate and the cutting-surface toenable the sickle to run freely and not be choked by grit or othermatter that may be forced between the parts. This necessitates the spacebeing so large that the rass in certain conditions instead of beingclipped off is The wings 11 are tapered I flexed into the space, withthe result that the motion of the sickle is greatly retarded or stopped.My improvement avoids this difficulty, because the upper and lower partsof the finger being always kept close together over and wiping thecutting edge of the sickle the cutting edge is sharpened and the bladeof grass is supported immediately at and on each side of the cuttingedge and is clipped ofi clean instead of being pushed into the space. Ifit should occur that grass or othersubstance is drawn in instead ofbeing cut off, the wings 11 yield under the pressure of spring 12 andallow the grass or other substance to pass without acfpreciablyretarding the motion of the sickle. The steps on wings 11', taperingbackward, tend to move the grass backward and prevent its moving forwardand crowding the space between the fingers so as to obstruct theentrance for receiving the uncut grass. By this arrangement thecutter-bar is keptfree.

Besides providing the peculiar fingers just described I have alsoprovided for a compound oscillatory and reciprocatory motion of thesickle, which gives it a draw out as well as a shear cut. This isaccomplished by set ting the crank-pins on "pitman-wheels 7 at onehundred and eighty degrees, so that as one pitman'S advances the otherrecedes. This would give only the oscillatory motion if the sickle werefree to move only in response to the im ulses given by the pitmen; butthe shanks 16 of the sickle, having their outer edges at an angle ofabout sixty degrees relative to the sickle-bar and adapted to workagainst the antifriction-rollers 14, pivted on finger-bar 2, alongitudinal reciprocatory motion is thus provided in addition to theoscillatory motion transverse to the finger-bar.

The peculiar motion of the sickle and the fingers provided with the wins described enables the operator to cut a clean smooth lawn, and thegrass is not "pulled, as in the present prevalent way. If the grass isjerked and pulled by the mower, the tap-roots are broken and the lawn isinjured. With my improvement every sprig is cleanly clipped off as soonas reached by the cutterbar and at once released.

Having thus described my invention, so that any one skilled in the art'pertaining thereto may make and use it, I claim- 1. In a lawn mowcr,the combination of driving means, a crank-shaft rotated by said drivingmeans, a gitman at each end of said crank-shaft, a cutter-bar disposedin front of said driving means, a sickle mounted in said cutter-barhaving a cam-shank extending at an angle from each end and or erativelyconnee-ted to saidpitman, fingers mounted on said cutter-bar and wingsrive-ted on said fingers, substantially as specified.

2. In a mower, driving-gear, a cutter-bar on the front of saiddriving-gear, a sickle mounted in said cutter-bar, camshanks at the endsof said sickle, a crank-shaft driven by said. driving-gear, jcitmenconnecting said crank-shaft and said cam-shanks, antifrictioncam-rollers mounted on said cutterbar disposed in the path of saidcam-shanks, substantially as specified.

JOHN P. JASPER.

Witnesses:

S. D. CALDWELL, G. H. SMITH.

